An Introduction to the Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians | Page 9

kind.
Among the Indians of the Mosquito coast, in Central America, canoe
burial in the ground, according to Bancroft [Footnote: Native Races of
Pacific States, 1874, vol. 1, p 744.], was common, and is thus
described:
"The corpse is wrapped in cloth and placed in one-half of a pitpan
which has been cut in two. Friends assemble for the funeral and drown
their grief in _mushla_, the women giving vent to their sorrow by
dashing themselves on the ground until covered with blood, and
inflicting other tortures, occasionally even committing suicide. As it is
supposed that the evil spirit seeks to obtain possession of the body,
musicians are called in to lull it to sleep while preparations are made
for its removal. All at once four naked men, who have disguised
themselves with paint so as not to be recognized and punished by
_Wulasha_, rush out from a neighboring hut, and, seizing a rope
attached to the canoe, drag it into the woods, followed by the music and
the crowd. Here the pitpan is lowered into the grave with bow, arrow,
spear, paddle, and other implements to serve the departed in the land
beyond, then the other half of the boat is placed over the body. A rude
hut is constructed over the grave, serving as a receptacle for the choice
food, drink, and other articles placed there from time to time by
relatives."

BURIAL IN CABINS, WIGWAMS, OR HOUSES.
While there is a certain degree of similitude between the above-noted
methods and the one to be mentioned subsequently--lodge burial-- they
differ, inasmuch as the latter are examples of surface or aerial burial,
and must consequently fall under another caption. The narratives which
are now to be given afford a clear idea of the former kind of burial.
Bartram [Footnote: Bartram's Travels, 1791, pp. 515.] relates the
following regarding the Muscogulges of the Carolinas:
"The Muscogulges bury their deceased in the earth; they dig a four-
foot, square, deep pit under the cabin, or couch which the deceased laid
on in his house, lining the grave with cypress bark, when they place the

corpse in a sitting posture, as if it were alive, depositing with him his
gun, tomahawk, pipe, and such other matters as he had the greatest
value for in his lifetime. His eldest wife, or the queen dowager, has the
second choice of his possessions, and the remaining effects are divided
among his other wives and children."
According to Bernard Roman, the "funeral customs of the Chickasaws
did not differ materially from those of the Muscogulges. They interred
the dead as soon as the breath left the body, and beneath the couch in
which the deceased expired."
The Navajos of New Mexico and Arizona, a tribe living a considerable
distance from the Chickasaws, follow somewhat similar customs, as
related by Dr. John Menard, formerly a physician to their agency.
"The Navajo custom is to leave the body where it dies, closing up the
house or hogan or covering the body with stones or brush. In case the
body is removed, it is taken to a cleft in the rocks and thrown in, and
stones piled over. The person touching or carrying the body, first takes
off all his clothes and afterwards washes his body with water before
putting them on or mingling with the living. When a body is removed
from a house or hogan, the hogan is burned down, and the place in
every case abandoned, as the belief is that the devil comes to the place
of death and remains where a dead body is. Wild animals frequently
(indeed, generally) get the bodies, and it is a very easy matter to pick
up skulls and bones around old camping grounds, or where the dead are
laid. In case it is not desirable to abandon a place, the sick person is left
out in some lone spot protected by brush, where they are either
abandoned to their fate or food brought to them until they die. This is
done only when all hope is gone. I have found bodies thus left so well
inclosed with brush that wild animals were unable to get at them; and
one so left to die was revived by a cup of coffee from our house and is
still living and well."
Mr. J. L. Burchard, agent to the Round Valley Indians of California,
furnishes an account of burial somewhat resembling that of the
Navajos:
"When I first came here the Indians would dig a round hole in the
ground, draw up the knees of the deceased Indian, and wrap the body
into as small a bulk as possible in blankets, tie them firmly with cords,
place them in the grave, throw in beads, baskets, clothing, everything

owned by the deceased, and